homopho(bee)a

by trafficcube10483

A tragic story in which Barry is sent to bee prison for planning to leave the hive. On its own, this would be pretty difficult, but his childhood friend (and almost love affair), Adam, was locked up with him, as he was accused of assisting Barry in his escape. Barry now has to live with the guilt of ruining his, and his best friend’s life while spending the rest of it in a jail cel

Barry stood shakily in his prison cell. After his parents had expressed their disapproval in his love for Vanessa, they had reported it to the authoribees. It was in violation of bee law, and he knew that; the problem was that he didn't understand that.

It was common knowledge that every new generation in the hive became more and more incestuous and corrupt, but he was being punished for not wanting to marry one of his cousins? The logic of that had more holes in it than his uncle's sweater after repeatedly stinging it to commit suicide.

And that memory brought back thoughts he had long tried to ignore. Barry had always been taught not to sting things, for the consequence would be death. That was how it was for all honeybees; they couldn't control it, so for some reason they made an uncomfortable peace with it.

Barry, however, couldn't stand this. He would lay awake at night just hoping that he could somehow suppress the thought enough to live in bliss. But of course, his longing to forget his mortality only further reminded him. But now? His own body had never looked so tempting to penetrate (except for in Adam's eyes, but I'll get to that in a minute.)

This was what most bees in prison did. They couldn't stand the isolation, and their life span wasn't long in the first place. But for Barry, it was more than that. He knew his life was worthless, and had only sought out Vanessa as an escape from that, a mere gateway to the human world. He knew he would never escape the homophobia that had lived in the hive for ages. He knew that he could never admit that his true love had been Adam all along.

But Adam was conflicted. He had been sent to prison with Barry, as he was counted as somewhat guilty for almost letting him get away with his escape from the hive. Adam did have feelings for Barry, but they had been stifled by his anger. He could've had a (partially) fulfilling life, but now he was spending the rest of it in a cell. All because Barry decided to be an edgy little shit and nOt LIkE oThEr bEeS.

"Hey," Adam said through the bars separating him from Barry. The two had been locked up next to each other, as they were admitted at the same time and the guards couldn't be bothered to separate them. "What?" Barry managed to ask. Adam has been tormenting him with his frustration and passive aggression since they had gotten there, and it was about to push Barry over the edge and make him end it all. "Just wanted to remind you that you're the reason both of us are never going to see the light of day again," Adam commented.

Though Adam had been relentlessly bullying Barry, he was still Barry's only reason to live. He hated to admit it, but without Adam, he had nothing. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't the smartest decision to lock the two up together.

"I know, Adam. You're kind enough to remind me every day," Barry halfheartedly replied. "Drop the sarcasm, you deserve everything that's happened. I, however, did nothing," Adam retorted. "Oh please. We all knew you were gay, and that'd land you exactly where you are now. I just cut out the middleman," Barry finally had the energy to retaliate.

Adam froze. Barry had been essentially silent this entire time, and that was what he decided to break it with? How was he supposed to respond to that? In all fairness, Barry wasn't wrong, but was it that obvious all along? Not having a reply, Adam simply stared in thought.

"So that's all it takes to get you to stop verbally abusing me?" Barry questioned, sighing out in annoyance. "Look, Adam, I don't want to spend the rest of our lives hating each other. Can we please just take some time to cool down? If we don't, we might as well just die now."

Adam remained silent. He agreed with Barry, but couldn't bring himself to admit it. For about five minutes, the pair said nothing. They just sank into the discomfort of the moment; that was, until Adam finally spoke. "Fine," he muttered into the wall, barely audible enough for Barry to hear.

That was all it took for the two to fall into a suffocating slumber. They each had a small amount of hope that this was all a dream; that they would wake up and go about their lives as normal. But, like most bees in this place had experienced, the reality of their isolation would only grow more inescapable.